Hello,

I've been considering purchasing a TCH and as part of my research, rented a LE on a recent business trip. There were a two things that bothered me about the rental.

1 I found the lights on either side of the radio to be too bright at night. I realize that you can turn down the brightness of the entire dashboard with the **** in the instrument cluster, but wanted to know if there is an adjustment for just the center console? Or if the bulbs that provide this "glow" at night can be easily removed?

2 I felt the headlights were a bit dim, and was wondering if anyone here has experimented with headlight replacements. Either a halogen bulb replacement (ie Silverstars) or HID replacements. If so, how much improvement was there over the stock OEM bulbs.

Thanks

 

I don't know about number 1 but it is on my list to check.

For number 2, I agree with some people on the forum that Silverstars are a waste of money. As for HID replacements there are a bunch of options out there. I'm personally looking at getting some Lexus ballasts off Ebay to do the job (this will come after the window tinting). If you search to forum you should find plenty of threads on HID replacements.

 

Kinda funny that the inside is too bright and the outside is too dim, huh?

I find the headlights to be just fine, but I've never had HID, so maybe it's just me. The inside dash thing is dimmable, but by the time you dial down the glow, the controls are hard to read. I was wondering why they chose blue since red is the color that least affects your night time vision. It would have been really cool if the dash color had been user selectable.

 

Yup I was thinking the same thing when driving the rental on a stretch of highway, If only I could point this radio out the front windshield, I could get a bit more illumination on the road

In reading through the forums, I found that there were some hidden dealer settings for the ventilation system and the sunroof (which does not work) I was hoping that there would be something simular for the interior lights.

If nothing else, I was thinking I could remove the lightbulbs from the radio.
Has anyone else done this?

 

I haven't tried but I want to replace them with blue LEDs :-P ... If you look closely you can tell they are probably white LEDs behind the blue tinted plastic. The only thing I fear is that they may be soldered in.

Since I have a new Monday off, maybe I'll see if I can pull the radio out and check.

 

If its the NAV version, there is a setting for day or night mode.

 

Yes but that only controls the screen. Sometimes, if driving long distances at night I turn my screen off. The real question is, how do you dim the NAV surround lighting without losing dash clarity.

 

OK here comes what is probably a dumb question. How do you turn your screen off without shutting the rest of the system?

 

Hit the 'display' button (on the right side of the Nav) and then on the top right corner of the the Nav screen there is a 'screen off' button you can push. I believe it says screen off.

 

Yup.